Politics this week

Japan's election

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party was returned to power with a sharply increased majority. Junichiro Koizumi, the prime minister, had called a snap election and purged his party after his plans to privatise Japan Post were blocked by rebels. The leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan resigned.

A fresh round of six-country talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons opened in Beijing. America's lead negotiator complained of little progress.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban were blamed for the killing of seven people delivering voter registration papers in the central province of Uruzgan, just days ahead of parliamentary and provincial elections on September 18th.

Manmohan Singh and Pervez Musharraf, respectively the prime minister of India and the president of Pakistan, met in New York. Hopes of a breakthrough were dashed but Mr Singh did promise to visit Pakistan.

Bailing out

More than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the clear-up in New Orleans began in earnest. As authorities scaled back their estimate of the region's death toll, George Bush paid two visits to the deluged city (he had previously visited the Gulf coast region) to view the operations. Michael Brown resigned as head of the much criticised Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Massachusetts legislature voted against a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, which is legal in the state because of a court ruling. The measure now looks unlikely to be put to the electorate next year.

Fernando Ferrer won the Democratic primary in New York's mayoral election, after the second-placed candidate withdrew to avoid a divisive run-off. Mr Ferrer could become the city's first Latino mayor if he beats Michael Bloomberg in November.

World leaders meeting in New York were due to endorse a 35-page declaration on overhauling the United Nations and progress towards tackling world poverty. Although greatly watered down in comparison with earlier drafts, the final document was described by both Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, and Mr Bush as an important “first step” along the road to reform. Others were more dubious.

Paying the bill

In Brazil, opposition parties began proceedings to expel Severino Cavalcanti, the leader of the lower house of Congress. He is accused of extorting payments from a concessionaire who ran restaurants in the Congress building. An unrelated campaign-finance scandal involving the Workers' Party continues to erode the popularity of the government.

Suez, a French utility, said it would withdraw from Argentina, where it held 46% of a large water company, after failing to reach agreement with the government over an increase in tariffs, which have been frozen since 2002.

In Canada, Ontario's government said that it would not allow Muslims to use sharia law to settle family disputes; instead, it will move to outlaw religious tribunals used by Christians and Jews.

Chile's Supreme Court ruled that General Augusto Pinochet can face a third set of human-rights charges, though he is likely to escape trial on health grounds. The Guardian, a British newspaper, claimed that BAE Systems paid the former dictator more than £1m ($1.6m) from 1997 to 2004.

Up for grabs

The opinion polls continued to narrow days ahead of Germany's election. Most now suggest that the opposition will not win an overall majority, making the likeliest outcome a “grand coalition” between the main centre-right and centre-left parties.

The European Court of Justice ruled that the European Commission could, in some circumstances, impose criminal penalties on those who flout European Union laws. The ruling was opposed by many national governments, which argued that the criminal law should never fall within EU powers.

AP

Northern Ireland witnessed its worse riots for years after a parade by the Orange Order was re-routed to avoid a Catholic neighbourhood. Around 80 police officers were hurt in the ensuing violence. The province's top policeman said the Order and loyalist paramilitaries had instigated the trouble; they blame the police.

European finance ministers vowed to stand together against fuel-price protesters who are demanding cuts in petrol taxes. But several countries promptly offered subsidies and tax rebates to favoured pressure groups.

The carnage continues

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In one of the deadliest days in Iraq since the American-led invasion in 2003, at least 150 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a series of bomb attacks and shootings on September 14th. In the worst incident, a suicide bomber blew up his car in the midst of hundreds of labourers, killing at least 114. Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the mayhem.

Hosni Mubarak won what was billed as Egypt's first competitive presidential election with 88.6% of the vote. His main rival in the race, Ayman Nour, won just 7.6% and cried foul. Even more strikingly, only 23% of the electorate bothered to vote.

There were anarchic scenes in the Gaza strip as the last Israeli soldiers left. Former Israeli settlements were looted and a synagogue was burned to the ground. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the “armed chaos”.